LIMA -- Peruvian forces put a violent end to the 127-day-old hostage crisis late April 22 as they stormed the besieged Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima. All but one of the 72 hostages were rescued, and the 14 rebels who had been holding them were killed in an operation that ended in 37 minutes.
Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori said one hostage, Supreme Court Justice Carlos Giusti, was hit in the leg by a bullet in the shootout between Marxist rebels and crack Peruvian troops and died of a subsequent heart attack. He added that 25 of the hostages were injured.
Fujimori also told reporters that two members of a 140-man Peruvian special forces unit who took part in the attack were killed during the operation. All 14 commandos of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement holed up inside the residence were killed, he said. They included the group's leader, Nestor Cerpa, and at least two teenage girls.